Blurred Veil
by Sainalone
Summary: A failed assassination attempt almost cost her life, but now she could join the war she wished to.
1. Chapter 1

DotA 2 belongs to Valve. I don't own anything about it.

* * *

The planet where the moon once had crashed laid many forms of life, from human beings to elementals. In each race, there would always be fighters and warriors who brought many lands, loots, and peace back to them. Assassins were one of them.

The Sisters of the Veil, or whom they called was a perfect den of assassins, trained only to kill. But what made it differed was, they were all female. Separated from their parents in their youth, only to be trained into a deadly weapon. Now, one among them was on a mission.

Moonlight shone onto the ground, piercing the foliage while raindrops fell onto the grass; a rainy night it seemed. A shadowy figure could be seen under one of the trees, blending in with the darkness while the rain continued. Looking closely, it was shivering but tried to withstand the cold the best it could.

"Damn the rain..." muttered the phantom leaning against the tree. When the moon shone onto it, it appeared to be someone in a leather outfit; black in color as to be one within the night. It wrapped a cape around itself, trying to make itself warm. Behind the cape draped its black hair, tied into a pony tail coming out from a spiked helmet. A breastplate and shoulder guards also covered the shivering figure, soaking wet along with the leather armor inside. Judging by its appearance, it appeared to be a fighter, female.

The lonely fighter reached behind her back before pulling out a sharpened glaive. She then turned to face the bark before striking down onto the surface. Slowly, the blade cut the bark down while carving the innards out. With effort and hard work, she managed to make a hole in the tree, big enough for her to fit in. She didn't hesitate of fitting into the hole, hiding from the harsh night outside. Still, her wet clothes made her uncomfortable.

"At least." she said to herself, staring out into the rain outside. She couldn't sleep or else, with wet clothes and shivering weather, she would never wake up. Trying her best to stay awake wasn't an easy task, but a well-trained assassin must be able to do it.

Rain continued as the night fell, stars crept away while the twilight dawned upon the land. The storm had dispersed when the morning came. The night was over, now it's time for her to continue on what she was doing.

She didn't expect a night in Nightsilver Woods to be so harsh; it could be of what the intruders would face as the woods was blessed by the Goddess of the Moon. Her task wasn't easy as she thought. Somehow, she survived the night.

The lone fighter came out from the hole she had made; sun rays stabbed her eyes when she did. Her garments were still damp, but that wouldn't stop her from continuing on her mission. She had entered the woods the night before and made her way through it; she wasn't sure when she would find her target as the woods was very big.

Despite how hard one trained, an empty stomach could be a problem for many. Her eyes searched for any signs of something she could eat; an apple tree nearby should do the work. Seeing the fruits, she went towards the tree and got her stomach filled.

Trekking in the woods was one of the things she had learnt about and it helped her a lot. Where she should step, where she could hide, how to survive in it, an assassin must know these things as their targets could be in the wilderness. The other thing was hiding her presence from her enemies.

It could be magic that blurred her body and erased her presence. The Veiled Sisters' secrets were untold to the outer world. Only the ones who were part of them may know them. Striding from tree to tree, passing through some bushes, she made only a little sound which one wouldn't hear from a distance. She decided to avoid the road at all costs as someone might see her.

Yes, she was part of them; a female assassin she was. She had been on many missions given from the sisters themselves and sometimes hired by outsiders. She didn't know the purpose of why to kill, but she gained loots and fame for it. On this mission, she had been tasked to end the Princess of the Moon's life who roamed the Nightsilver Woods as a guardian of Selemene, the Goddess of the moon. Mirana was the name of the one she needed to kill.

The day went passed quickly; the sun had already begun to set. In front of her was the Temple of Mene, the sanctum of the ones under the service of Selemene. The temple was short but round-shaped like a dome with a big hole in the center roof. Concentrated beam of moonlight was connecting the night sky with the ground, like a pillar coming out from the opening she saw. Maybe rituals or blessings were practiced in there. The lone assassin hid her presence and blurred herself to blend in with the night when the stars were up in the sky.

She got a feeling that her target wouldn't be in the palace, but somewhere nearby; her blurred body seemed to trust her mind too. Trusting her own feeling, she went around the palace, jumping from tree to tree and over a small stream. She stopped at the stream as her feelings told her before following up to where the stream came from. It went north from the palace, resulting in a pool surrounded by the woods.

Earlier in the day, she had found some similar pools like this one. All of them had something in common. The water glowed from the lunar energy within, making the pool sparkled like it was tainted in star dust. On the clear surface of water were lotuses floating in the pool, faintly glowing in the night. They must be the sacred luminous lotus which the Goddess preserved. One of the reasons the warriors of Selemene roamed the woods was to protect the lotus. But, she wasn't here to steal them anyway.

She hid in the bushes, seeing something in the night along the pool. A figure was kneeling down by the water, relaxing beside the pool. Moonlight tended to be shone at the figure, making out an image of a woman in a blue night gown. Her face glowed as the moon was within her. She finally found her target; it was Mirana, the Princess of the Moon.

The assassin made sure her gears were ready; her poison coated daggers and her deadly glaive. She moved closer to the target, trying to ambush from behind and instantly decapitate her victim. When the time was right, she jumped on the Princess of the Moon, blinking to behind her back with her blade striking down.

Time slowed down to a halt when the glaive was about to land; its steel surface reflected something up in the sky. The moon was glowing brighter than usual, only to release a strong beam of moonlight on the assassin. Time resumed on normal again as the assassin was now stunned by the lunar beam, alerting Mirana of incoming danger.

"In time, Princess Mirana." A shape sprang from the bushes beside the pool, resembling a warrior on an armored panther back. When she came back to her senses, her target was now beside the panther warrior, taking a bow and arrows from one of the panther pouches. The lone assassin realized she was now fighting against two warriors of the Nightsilver Woods.

"Stay back, this foe is too dangerous to take on." The warrior on the beast back said in warning, focusing on the intruder in every moment.

"If it wasn't you, Luna, the Moon Rider."

"Said the infamous assassin, Mortred."

The one on the panther back was Luna, armored in blue and a pointed helmet. She was one of the Selemene's chosen, embarked with horrifying past. In her hand was a glaive like the assassin, but enchanted by the power of the moon.

Mortred, the Phantom Assassin, had failed on her assassination attempt. On some missions, there would be strong enemies who could fight her alone. Those ones made some of her past missions failed, and now she was facing two of them. She could at least kill one and escape, she thought.

The Princess of the Moon was now in a safe distance, leaving her friend and companion with the fearful assassin. Luna tightened her grip on her glaive, preparing for the first strike to land. On the other side, Mortred also tightly gripped her weapon, readying for an initiate. As the sound of water rippled, Mortred jumped on Luna, blinking to her to start the fight.

Blade crashed with blade, both of the fighters gritted their teeth as the hit landed. With a panther on Luna side, Mortred seemed to be losing on the push. In a second, she quickly stepped back, avoiding a slash from Luna before blinking in again.

Now she avoided clashing with her, but played the dodging game instead. Mortred skillfully dodged Luna's glaive as well as striking back at the same time. With being on a panther back, Luna didn't have much time to block and dodge Mortred's glaive.

After a minute of exchanging hit, armors on Luna were scratched by Mortred strikes; blood seeped through her clothes from some scratches. While on Mortred's side, she had avoided all of Luna's blows. For some reasons, Luna was sure she saw her glaive slicing through Mortred's arm but somehow it didn't. It was one of the secrets Mortred had.

Another minute passed, Luna seemed to be losing as she gained more scratches on her armors. She could see her opponent's wicked smile, seeming to be enjoying the fight. Mortred was waiting for an opening to end the fight, decapitating the Nightsilver Woods' warrior head. It came as she thought, Luna's panther accidentally slipped from a rock hidden in the grass, losing balance for a split second. That was all she needed. Mortred took the chance, jumping straight at Luna's head with her blade swinging.

Before she could cut her head off, she quickly changed her direction or the perfectly aimed arrows would kill her first. She saw Luna regained her balance with someone standing behind; Mirana was aiming a shot at her.

She had forgotten about the other one, now joining the fight. Mortred brows furrowed as she changed her target from Luna to the princess. Mirana was the one whom she should kill, and now it provoked her to do it. Mortred quickly sprint passed Luna, preparing to jump onto her new target. Before she could do so, time froze again; a familar feeling it was. Time then continued as Mortred was now stunned by Lucent Beam from Luna, thus opening a chance for the duo to end the intruder life.

Mirana channeled her magic power, enchanted by the moonlight onto her arrow. It glowed brightly as it was full of destructive energy. When Mortred recovered from the lunar beam, Mirana fired her arrow, aimed dead center at the assassin.

The Scared Arrow pierced Mortred's breastplate, gutting her stomach inside. She cried out in pain as it was more than she could handle; the energy enchanted on the arrow now surged throughout her body, burning her innards. Mortred fell onto her knees, her hand covering the arrow's wound before she heard a nearby voice. All of her plans were now turned against her; she probably wouldn't live to see the morning.

"Let the sky tear down the unworthy!" Luna called down the power of the moon, creating an eclipse. Mortred looked up into the sky, seeing the moon completely blocked the light from the sun. It glowed brightly with concentrated beams of moonlight before they started to rain down onto the assassin, one by one.

* * *

Grass rustled as a figure stepped on it, blood dropping onto the ground as it walked. One might not know that a path, north in Nightsilver Woods was covered in blood. There was enough blood that turned a road into a bloody trail. It stopped at the northwest of the woods.

Mortred continued to pull herself up and get out of the Nightsilver Woods; she was badly injured from the fight on the night before. An arrow was sticking out from her stomach, blood seeping out from it. If one could look inside her, they would see her body was very close to a toast as her insides were burned by the Lucent Beams. Every breath sent a pain to her lungs, but she gritted her teeth and kept on walking.

She lost so much blood by the arrow itself; the burning sensation made the blood rushed out. She had made her way out from the woods, seeming impossible as she thought. The two Selemene's warriors spared her life after she took full blows from the Eclipse. They left her alone in the wild, thinking she would not make it.

Mortred continued on her path, going north for a chance to survive. North from the woods, she saw less trees and more rocks. The land seemed to be going upwards also; a highland it was. Maybe she could find something there, she thought.

The sun was shining brightly in the sky, searing heat passed on to the injured assassin. It was noon already, walking for hours began to take toll on her. The trees were very thin in numbers, only more rocks and sand appeared. Tall stone pillars scattered all over the place. She needed to hide from the sun as it drained water from her body.

Deciding to take place under a pillar, Mortred painfully leaned against the hard stone surface before plopping onto the ground. She felt dizzy from the burning sun; her vision began to be blurred by the loss of blood and water. This might be it, her eternal sleeping place. Mortred stiffed a laugh to herself; maybe dying wouldn't be that bad. She closed her eyes, her consciousness began to fade. She would already blackout if it wasn't a sound of a rock rumbling.

Startled by the loud noise, her adrenaline shook her body awake once more, jolting to her feet. Her grip tightened on her glaive, trying to focus on the colors that moved onto her sight. A black, green shape was moving in her direction before tiny stones stuck to it, turning into a boulder. Beside was something red swinging around, a patch of blonde was visible for a while. Enemies, foes or whatever they could be, she thought.

Mortred slowly moved her shaking legs towards the figures; her adrenaline started to fade, leaving her dazed again. Something came out from the black-green shape, moving towards her. She felt the two shapes noticed her presence, but now something was moving in full speed which was about to hit her. It looked kind of like a stone, her mind told her.

Crunching sound emerged when the assassin was met by an unknown object, her bones shattered from the impact. It hurt to the point where she couldn't feel anymore, she was going to die anyway. Mortred fell onto her knees, punctured ribs pierced through her organs. Her vision went black really fast.

Before she blacked out, she saw the two shapes coming at her, but she seemed to notice the red one more. Swinging red thing would be the last thing she would see. Mortred then lost her consciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

Hours had passed; time flowedwhile her mind was asleep. Only darkness was what she saw; maybe she was dreaming. She stayed still in her dream, crouching down and held her hands around her knees. There was nothing but her and the darkness in the dream, perhaps.

She didn't know how long she had been sitting in her dream. Darkness along with black mist still wandered around. Maybe it wasn't a dream; it could be the place she would end up after her death. She might have already died and woke up shortly in this place.

Recalling what happened before she was here, what might have killed her or sent her here. Slowly, she remembered the Nightsilver Woods; that night where she fought two warriors of Selemene and got badly injured. Images popped up as she thought of what happened after.

She remembered coming out of the woods before venturing north into the highland. After walking for some time, she saw two images and then something hit her. Remembering up to this point, something came out into her mind; the colors.

There was a red swinging thing from one of the shapes she had seen. She didn't know why it decided to lodge into her mind and made her remembered it. After thinking for a while, her mind focused back to the black dream.

A boring dream; no lights or such, only dark mist surrounding the dream. She sighed, closing her eyes before something made them opened again. A light shone from nowhere onto a spot in front of her. But, something was wrong with it.

She inspected carefully, making out a shimmering red color in the light. It looked like a cape swinging back and forth, drawing her attention to it. Someone seemed to be there.

But who? Why would they be here? She questioned herself, wanting answers. Even more, why would there be a light in this dark, misty dream? Perhaps one day she might know, after she woke up.

* * *

Cold air whisked through the windows, brushing against the body in the room. Cold surface of stone made her stirred in her sleep. A figure with teal skin, dressed in a leather outfit and plates was sleeping on a bed made of stone alternating with jade. The figure woke up from slumber as it couldn't keep up with the cold touching its body.

Mortred slowly opened her eyes, regaining her consciousness after waking up. Smooth stone on the jade bed sent shiver around her body, transmitting the cold of the night to her while it did. The Phantom Assassin sat up on the bed before observing her surroundings.

She checked herself first. She was still in her armor but her helmet was nowhere to be found; her ponytail cascaded down her back without it. She noticed her breastplate had a hole in it along with a tear in her leather undershirt; memories from that night started coming back to her. Her weapons and glaive were gone too.

After checking herself, her eyes went around the room she was in. The room was mostly made of stone, jade glimmering from place to place. The place was lit up by glowing jade stones on the wall. An opening was next to her bed, a hole in the wall it was; a window, she thought. In the top right corner was a big hole, seeming to be a door. The other thing other than her bed was a stone table on her right, sitting next to the wall. She saw her belongings on it; her helmet and her weapons. Seeing them, Mortred got up from the bed to get them, but stopped before she could stand up.

Pain. She didn't feel any pain. Remembering the injuries she had recieved and being hit by something would at least leave her in pain for days. Perhaps, she was out for days but she felt she had only blacked out for hours.

Looking outside of the window, she saw the sky already turned black. Stars were shining upward in the sky as the night continued; from noon through evening she had slept. The only thing in her mind now was how did she recover so quickly? Footsteps outside the stone hut shook her attention towards the door, seeing someone entering the room.

"It looks like she is awake." A voice came from a figure standing at the doorway. It was black with green striped over the sides. Looking closely, it was a rock shaped like human. Its body was made of black stone while its hands were alternating with glowing jade. From the outfit, it looked like a monk with a body of stone. The eyes on its yellow striped face were looking at her.

The living stone moved further into the room, making space for another figure to come inside. A human in white armor walked into the room before stopping beside the stone figure. Its blue eyes gazed into hers as theirs met.

"I shall leave you two alone. You have something to talk to her right?" The human nodded, not breaking the eye contact. With that, the stone figure slowly walked out, leaving her with the human.

"Mortred, the Phantom Assassin."

"Purist Thunderwrath, the Omniknight isn't it?"

The human was whom they called the Omniknight. He was dressed in white armor with red enchanting rune while a red shimmering cape was hanging from his back. They said he was the knight of light who was chosen by the Omniscience, the All Seeing One. Mortred wondered why he was here.

Purist walked closer to her, never breaking the eye contact. Her weapons nearby could cause his life but he was sure she wouldn't do it. He plopped down on the bed close to her feet when he came close. There's something on his mind which he would like to talk about.

Normally when someone got close to her, their head would already been ripped off. She could sprang to her weapons, grab them and end the knight's life, but she knew she couldn't. His presence made her felt degenerated, as her energy was sucked by some kind of aura. Also, he was one of the fighters that could fight her back. Moreover, there were many questions in her mind right now, and he surely knew them. Mortred decided to sit there, focusing on the Omniknight.

"What brings you here?" Combined voice echoed throughout the room, surprising them a little. Both of them wanted to know why the one in front of them were here.

"How did I end up here?" Mortred was the first to back was leaning against the wall while her arms folded at her chest. From a brink of death in the highland to a small stone room. Her wounds on her body had vanished as if nothing happened. What exactly happened to her after blacking out? Her brows furrowed, staring into his eyes as she needed the answers.

"Alright, if you really want to know..." Purist sighed, closing his eyes while arranging his words.

"As you have seen the living stone beside me, he is Kaolin, the Earth Spirit. The Omniscience had alerted me of his awakening here in the Uplands. As newly walking the Earth, I came here to meet him and befriend him as his army of stone soldiers would be great of aid."

"By fate or not, Kaolin also knew of my visit and welcomed me with this stone and jade house. After some conversation, we decided to test our feats of strength. So we traveled down from here and had a friendly spare."

"He derived his power from the Earth and controlled its bones like they were his. When he found a boulder, his strength sent it across the land like gliding in a thin air. It went by me and after that; a sound of impact got our attention. That's how we found you."

"So you decided to carry me back to this house, but you wouldn't do it as you had heard of my name. What really happened to me?" Mortred gritted her teeth as the truth was to be unfolded. As an assassin capable of killing them after she woke up, why did they save her then?

"If it wasn't Kaolin, you might not be here. I alerted him of your fame and infamous acts, but I was surprised by his actions. As the general of his stone army, he commanded to leave no one behind, so I had to carry your broken body back here."

"You have healing power, don't you? Why did you help me? I could have killed you after I woke up!"

"He commanded me to take care of you."

Mortred was shocked for a moment. Even knew of their own danger, someone still decided to save her life, trusting her not to kill them. Kaolin was that kind of man, newly walking the Earth in body but lived with an old and ancient mind. She stiffed a laugh. A deadly assassin being saved by others, where would she be now?

"Now it's my turn. How did you end up like that? The arrow impaled in you told me something happened in the woods down below." The Omniknight questioned her, his piercing stare unknowingly sent a shiver down her spine. Mortred sighed to herself, closing her eyes for a moment before staring down onto her legs.

"It was an unexpected nightmare; something I wish not to see again." The pain and suffering from being shot by the Princess of the Moon and being burned by Luna's Lucent Beams made her gulped. It made him wondered, what could even make a fearful assassin like her scared? He would know it in a few minutes.

"As one of the Sisters of the Veil, I was tasked of assassinating Mirana, the Princess of the Moon who resides in the Nightsilver Woods. At the same time, the present ruler on the Solar throne would provide a respectful amount of gold for the one who could do it. So, I decided to take the chance."

"Traveling from place to place isn't much of a problem for an assassin like me, until I entered the sacred woods. It was like the woods already warned me with harsh weather on the first night, but I continued despite the hardships."

"During the second night, I found her alone in the woods which I could easily kill. Before I could cut her head off, that bastard warrior of Selemene popped up and ruined my plan. So I changed to fight Luna, one of the Selemene's chosen instead."

"With my blurring ability, she lost her ground after a while which I then took my chance. As my glaive was about to land, perfectly aimed arrows came straight at , I had to retreat. It was Mirana with her bow and arrows."

"Fighting with two at the same time, I quickly changed my target to her, ran towards her until I was about to blink to her. The other one I hadn't focused on stunned me with a lunar beam. Standing there, being able to do nothing, I watched as Mirana charged up one of her arrow before firing it at me."

"That's how I got my stomach pierced, but that's not it. As I felt the pain from the wound, a nearby voice came into my ears. I looked up, only to see an eclipse in the sky. The moon was infused with lunar power, glowing beautifully as I watched. After that, countless of them rained onto me, burning me inside out."

"When the hell was over, they left me for death which was lucky for me. With my broken body, I helped myself to get out of the woods while leaving a trail of blood as I did so. When I exited, I saw a high land in distance which is the Uplands. Without a choice, I continued to walk, hoping I could find some aids or perhaps, my dead bed."

Mortred gritted her teeth, her fists clenched together as a tear came out from one of her eye. Her shell had broken down, letting her weak self out.

"I failed again... I couldn't even get a job done. Maybe I'm useless, a useless assassin like a rusty dagger. I am meaningless..."

"I don't even know why I became an assassin. Why would I have been selected by the sisters? I don't know why I must kill. What should I do, wh-"

The Omniknight had had enough of it; she needed to calm down for a moment. With that, his hand went forward in instinct, landing on her shoulder. A feeling on her shoulder cut her off, making her looked up. His gaze pierced into her soul as their eyes met; her emotions went blank suddenly.

"You need to calm down. I didn't expect a ruthless assassin to be like this."

Purist then got up from the bed, turning his back to her while standing still. She needed to be alone for a while.

"It's getting late already, you need to get some sleep. I'm going to talk with Kaolin for a while. Just rest up." With that, he slowly walked to the door before exiting the room. With him gone, Mortred was left alone on her bed.

He's right, she should relax first. Weird though, how a stare could calmed her down. There were so much to think about in her mind right now, but she didn't want to stress out again. Arranging her mind, a sleep should make her soul stay at rest for a night.

Mortred took off her armors, left her leather outfit. She went and placed them on the table beside where her weapons were, checking them in progress. After satisfied enough, she untied her pony tail, letting her smooth back hair flowed along her back.

Ready to sleep, the lone assassin got onto the bed; deciding to sleep with lights from glowing jades anyway. Her head rested onto a slab of stone on the bed head, acting like a pillow. Her eyes stared onto the ceiling; her mind was spinning inside as she stared. Feeling sleepy, she closed her eyes down as she tried to sleep in an unknown place. Luckily, she was out after only a minute on the bed.

* * *

"Purist, take care of that girl we met earlier today."

"Kaolin?"

"The flows of the Earth told me. She will face many obstacles in the nearing future."

"In what ways I can help her?"

"Your instincts will tell you when the time has come. Just remember my words."

"I shall do what I must."

"And another thing, how are you going to sleep?"

"...Right. Maybe on the floor or no sleep at all."

"I could make another bed if you want."

"I would sleep on it then. Will it disturb her?"

"I will try not to make any sound."

"Thank you. Let's go, then."


End file.
